Centinela school district officials Tuesday appointed a veteran administrator as interim leader, pending an investigation of Supt. Jose Fernandez, who was paid $674,559 last year. Fernandez was placed on paid leave last week. For now, the Centinela Valley Union High School District will be managed by Bob Cox, who had been serving as the assistant superintendent for human resources. The board announced its action after meeting nearly three hours in closed session. Fernandez's earnings last year to manage a school system of 6,600 students spread across three high schools and two small alternative programs surpassed the compensation of those leading the nation's three largest school systems.

NEW YORK * Gov. George Pataki signed legislation that gives New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg control of the city's school system. The 1.1-million-student system will become Bloomberg's direct responsibility beginning July 1. The law also expands the Board of Education to 13 members. Currently, the system is run by a seven-member board and a chancellor. The mayor appoints two of the board members; the rest are appointed by each of the city's five borough presidents.

I would like to suggest to Poole that his next focus be the privatization of our public school system. If all primary and secondary schools were privately owned and operated, they could compete with one another for excellence in curriculum and instruction. This system would force schools to develop specific standards of performance and accountability ("production" in the business world) and may motivate parents to become more involved. By operating as a business, a privatized school system would reward our excellent teachers, weed out poor teachers and provide incentives for new teachers to become excellent teachers.

Re "A drill can't fix LAUSD," Opinion, April 28 The rest of the world scores quick and easy political points by bashing our public school system. Virtually alone in the world of punditry, Sandra Tsing Loh identifies the successes of public schools. As a parent with children in public school, I love her work on this front, because school staff are properly more concerned with teaching than with rehabilitating their battered image. For readers who merely skim headlines, "A drill can't fix LAUSD" cynically echoes the conventional wisdom that our school system is broken beyond repair.

Regarding your editorial "Public Schools at the End of the Rope" (Aug. 15): The Times says that immigration and a record birth rate are having a negative impact on the public school system. In fact, these are not separate issues since immigrants (both legal and illegal) have the largest birth rate of any group in California. At this country's busiest obstetrics hospital, located at the USC-Los Angeles County Medical Center, 85%-90% of the births are to mothers who are illegal aliens.

Re "A rocky freshman year," editorial, Nov. 14 The Times discusses the relative lack of success achieved this last year by Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. David L. Brewer. Realistically, this is not unexpected. After all, how much experience with public education does a Navy admiral have? It seems that the Board of Education is more interested in prestigious individuals to head our schools than professional educators. The same can be said of former Supt.

Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy has told Board of Education members that he plans to resign in February, according to high-level district officials, including some who asked not to be named. The reaction from the office of board President Richard Vladovic left little doubt. “We are shocked,” said Mike Trujillo, a spokesman. “Dr. Vladovic is shocked, saddened and surprised.” Deasy, 52, was not immediately available for comment, but his departure would end the relatively brief tenure of a leader who made his mark with aggressive, sometimes controversial policies in L.A. Unified, the nation's second-largest school system.